Bleach: The Story of Xiang
by Xiang07
Summary: Follow the story of Xiang, a young boy hand-picked to become a strong and powerful force of the Gotei 13. Set in time before the current war of Soul Society, this story is full of adventure and action. Definitely for the avid Side-story lover.
1. Chapter 1 The Dream

Chapter 1: The Dream

"Orihime. Wonderful day, isn't it?"  
It was a beautiful day out, and Kurosaki Ichigo accompanied by Inoue Orihime, were out for a walk in a small forest just outside of the Karakura District. It was a nice day indeed, for the breeze was nice and calm, and the temperature outside was nice and warm with minimal humidity.  
Earlier that day, Ichigo had asked Orihime to take a walk with him after school, so he could discuss the changes they've experienced in their lives. He also wanted to admit one other thing to her: Ichigo had never realized it before, but he has had very strong feelings for her ever since the day they met. He just didn't realize it.

"You been keeping busy?" he asked, trying to break the ice.  
"Umm, yes, I guess so, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime responded, almost a little startled.

About a half mile down their current trail, Ichigo came to an abrupt stop.  
"Orihime. Did you hear that?"  
"Huh? Umm, no, what was it?"  
"I don't know, probably nothing. Let's keep going."

Up until now, neither one of them had noticed that they were under constant surveillance by a shadowy figure in the branches above. Reaching for his pocket, Ichigo attempted to pull out Kon, planning to use the mod soul to release him from his body, allowing him to reveal his shinigami-self, and fend off whomever this eavesdropper was. Unfortunately, Ichigo got as far as reaching in for Kon's plushy self before getting pinned by to a tree by large chains exploding from the ground.  
Attempting to run towards Ichigo, Orihime is tripped up by a tree root, followed by the large chains also pinning her to the ground where she fell.  
"Who are you, what do you want?" Ichigo screamed, now enraged.  
No response.  
"I said, WHO ARE YOU, coward?! Show yourself!"  
By this time, Ichigo was so fiercely angered that he had let down any remaining defense he had left.  
"Well, Kuroaski Ichigo. Looks like you've got yourself in a bit of a bind, so to speak."  
The stranger, wearing shinigami robes with his right sleeve torn off, wearing a bandana on his head covering his right eye, with shaggy brown hair underneath had now dropped down from the tree he was slouched in. Appearing almost instantly behind Ichigo, the stranger slowly puts his face almost directly against Ichigo's left ear.  
"Hi," he says in almost a whisper. "I've been waiting for you to notice me, Mr. Kurosaki."

"What do you want?!" Ichigo asks with a large hint of anger in his voice.

"Well, since Mr. angry-pants here wants to just cut to the chase, we'll start with a quick introduction. My name's Kuchiki Xiang. Don't worry, I'm not here to kill nor hurt you. I'm here to heed a warning: Ever since you have received the Vaizard ability, there's been a man on a hunt for you. I'm expecting him to be here in the next few days. Be very cautious, Kurosaki-san. There is a very big responsibility that comes with that mask of yours. Don't let it gain control of you."

With that said, the stranger releases both of them and disappears almost instantly. Hearing this warning, Ichigo instantly walked Orihime home. At the stoop to her apartment, Orihime stopped Ichigo before he could duck and run without saying goodbye.  
"Ichigo-san. Be careful, and listen to what that strange man said. I have a feeling he wasn't lying."

"Will do, Orihime. Take care. See you at class on Monday."

After finishing their goodbyes, Ichigo instantly ran home and went straight to his room and didn't leave it all weekend.

***Three Days Later***

After a long weekend crammed in his bedroom, only leaving to eat and use the restroom, Ichigo trotted off to school. About halfway along, he met up with Sado Yasutora, probably his best friend, and the two ventured off to class together.

"How was your weekend, Chad?" Ichigo asked, breaking the long silence they had endured.

"It was fine. Nothing too crazy.-- How about yourself, Ichigo-san?"

Ichigo replied, filling in Chad on everything that had happened to him on Friday, and how he was warned to be very cautious.  
As the two of them reached the school grounds, Ichigo noticed a familiar figure laying on the ground ahead of them.

"Chad! That's him! The guy from Friday!" Ichigo yelled, very excitably.  
The two of them instantly ran to the injured man to see if he was alright. After a few moments they were able to awake him, but the only words Ichigo was able to understand from the man were "Above you."  
Almost instantly, Ichigo looked up and had barely enough time to pull Kon out of his pack, removing the mod soul's spherical shaped candy, holding his every being. Ichigo instantly stuffed the Kon's candy in to his mouth, revealing his shinigami self, instantly dodging the pouncing pursuer above him.  
Skipping the conversation, Ichigo instantly unleashes his bankai, Tensa Zangetsu and applies his hollow mask. After the smoke and dust that was kicked up from the one-man ambush, Ichigo is able to see his opponent. A seemingly younger adult wearing shinigami robes, torn at the bottom and all over both sleeves, long blonde hair, and a demon-like vaizard mask, stood opposite of Ichigo, almost glaring in to his soul. Skipping the short-talk the opponent took the first strike.

"CERO!"  
And with that, everything in Ichigo's view became a red blur only abrupted for a short moment by a shadowy figure. After a few moments, Ichigo realized the Cero was being blocked by the strange man from 3 days ago!

"Ichigo, we don't have much time! I came here not only to warn you of the attacker, but also of the beast growing inside of you! Take great caution in your power, Kurosaki-san, for the hollow inside you will never back down. As of this moment, you only have partial control. Unless you can take full control of it's powers it can and WILL destroy you from the inside out."

With that, everything in Ichigo's mind instantly went black, and he fell unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2 The Beginning

"Xiang! Wake up! Hurry!"

With this, a little boy known only by the name of Xiang woke up, surrounded by the crates he used to cover himself while he slept in a desolate alley located in Soul Society's Rukongai district. Getting up, the little boy came to a staggering upright position, revealing medium length brown hair, large blue eyes and scraggly/torn clothes.  
"There's two men out front wishing to speak to you. They're tall and scary, but they said they mean no harm. It's supposedly very important, and they've come all the way from the Seiretei in search of you."

Confused, and still reminiscing on the dream he had just experienced, Xiang followed his friend with long, blonde hair to meet these two men.

"You alright there, Xiang?" The other boy asked.  
"Well..." Xiang responded, "I keep having this weird dream about a boy with spikey orange hair, and every time I have it, it ends in a red blur. I don't know. It's just... Odd. I'll be fine."

Upon reaching the end of the alley, Xiang came up to them, both wearing black kimono's and wielding swords. One man had spikey dark hair, while the other had long white hair, and he seemed to be wielding two blades. The man with the white hair was the first to speak.  
"Ah, Xiang. We've been meaning to speak with you. We at the Seiretei have noticed a large amount of reiatsu, or spiritual energy emitting from this area and were just now able to determine who it was coming from. See, Xiang, you have a lot of untapped power inside of you, and we at the Seiretei can help you hone that power and turn you in to a mighty shinigami. What do you say?"  
Without any hesitation, Xiang joined the men and jumped on the opportunity to join the Gotei 13. Ever since he arrived in Rukongai, Xiang dreamed of joining the ranks of shinigami, using their abilities to defeat evil. He knew that with some hard work and many years of training, Xiang could become the greatest shinigami to ever pass through Seiretei's walls.  
Not much was said on the journey to the Seiretei gates. The men mainly just chit-chatted about happenings around the Seiretei occasionally asking Xiang random questions. It seemed almost as if these beings as "Hollows" were the main topic of discussion the whole way there.  
After a seemingly endless walk, Xiang finally came up to the walls of Seiretei. Standing there before him and the two men, was Jidanbou, the Seiretei's gatekeeper. He immediately allowed the two men and Xiang through, where they led Xiang to the Shinigami Academy, where he would register to become a trainee and get all the schooling and experience he would need to become a great shinigami.

"Xiang, before we enter the academy, we should probably introduce ourselves, huh? Well, my name's Ukitake Joshiro, and I'm Captain of Squad 13. This is my subordinate and lieutenant, Shiba Kaien. Unfortunately, we will be going now, but I hope to see you in a few years when you become strong enough to join our ranks."  
With that, both men disappeared in the matter of the blink of an eye. Xiang continued inside, registered with the lady at the front counter and was shown to his room. For the most of the remaining evening and night, he sat around staring at his trainee robes, and his trainee practice sword. Eventually, after fatigue slowly came over him, he folded up his robes, sheathed his practice sword, and both items under his bed.

"Well, I guess it's time for bed," he muttered to himself as he crawled in to his bunk.  
"I've got a long first day ahead of me tomorrow. The lady at the front desk said I should report to the testing area right away for qualifications. It'll determine where at in my class I will be placed."  
And with that, Xiang almost instantly fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3 The First Day

Chapter 3 - The First Day

It seemed almost as if Xiang had just closed his eyes, when he was awoken by a strange black butterfly stating he should report to the front desk for further directions to the qualifying area. With that,  
Xiang threw on his trainee kimono's, socks, and sandals and proceeded to the front desk after grabbing his trainee's sword and throwing a quick brush through his hair.  
Opening the door to his apartment, Xiang looked all around him for the first time. The sky was a nice calm blue, with very few clouds in the air. There were countless buildings surrounding the one like his, and they almost seemed overwhelming. The path's were all made of dirt, packed down by the millions of spirits that have walked the streets and alleyways.  
It didn't take long for Xiang to reach the academy; his room was merely feet from it. Walking inside, everything seemed very cramped, yet spacious at the same time. Directly in front of him was a lady sitting behind her secretary's desk plugging away at her computer. To his right was a single-file line of other trainee's, most likely all new just like Xiang. Sucking back the butterflies in his stomache, Xiang approached the brown-haired woman behind the counter.  
"Name?" the woman said instantaneously.  
"E-excuse me?" Xiang stuttered.  
By this time, the woman looked irritated "Name, please" she replied, sternly.  
"Oh. Um -- Xiang, ma'am."  
"Okay, go ahead and join the other's to your right. We will be starting shortly."  
Joining the others in line, a apparently teenage boy with short blonde hair, and black eyes as dark as even the deepest hole in Seiretei turned around and introduced himself.  
"Hi! My name's Konatsu, but people call me 'nats for short.  
What's your name?"  
"X-Xiang." replied Xiang, nervously.  
"Nice to meet you, Xiang-san."  
The boy then made a minor bow to Xiang for respect.  
"Is this your first time in qualifications? This is my third time trying out. Only the top 12 students are inducted in to the trainee program, and the top 2 are given special training under the Gotei 13 themselves. If you make it in the top 2, you only have to undergo about 3 years of training. Half that of the regular training. If you end up under that, you'll be here for about 6 years, training with only the greatest teachers the Seiretei can offer."  
Xiang was astonished at how hyperactive this boy was, and at how fast he talked. His knowledge for the training system was ridiculous,  
but that was most likely due to the fact that he'd tried out so many times.  
It seemed as if only a moment had passed before two older men dressed in the same outfit Xiang was wearing came out before the group and informed them of the same information Xiang had just received from Konatsu, excluding the tournament information.  
"You will all be competing in a sparring competition. You may use a mixture of previously known kidou(or demon magic) and martial arts or fighting styles you already know. Unfortunately, you must defeat your opponent by pretending to stab them through the chest. Any questions?"  
After answering a few questions the men proceeded in to the hall behind them.  
After entering the room, Xiang immediately saw a competition bracket. The men explained in the bracket, the spirits that didn't make it in to the training program last time were c8seeded first, followed by everyone else in an alphabetical order. Xiang was seeded at #23 out of 26.  
His first match was against a small boy with sandy brown hair, and gleaming blue eyes. The child had to be no older than 6 when he died, for he appeared to be around that same age. "This should be an easy bout" thought Xiang, for living in Rukongai, he had learned how to defend himself with martial arts. It was almost mandatory, considering the chaos that emitted from the area.  
At the sound of a "Dong!" Xiang charged the little boy, and struck with the palm of his hand. The little boy, scared, quivered as he was struck straight in the sternum by Xiang's blow, and flew to the ground. Xiang struck his wooden blade in to the boy's chest. Easy win.  
His next bout was against a boy who seemed to be around the same age, but very round in nature. He had to be a good 250 lbs.  
"This is going to take some skill," Xiang said to himself, debating on how to upstage his opponent.  
"My wooden wakizashi is going to be the only route I have to make my way up the ladder here."  
Taking another charge at the sound of the bell, Xiang slid between his opponent's legs and swept him at the feet from behind. Surprisingly, his opponent toppled with ease! With the opponent unable to get back to his feet and regain stature, Xiang once again won an easy battle.  
Xiang realized he had easily won those first two matches, but his next bout was the quarterfinal, so he needed to start thinking a little more serious.  
"I'm probably going to need to use both my martial art skills, and some swordplay in order to win this one. Unfortunately, I haven't heard of kidou up until this point so I'm screwed there. The little bit that he'd know, if any, is going to be minor. I shoud be able to dodge any of those."  
After watching his next opponent win by countering a sword slash with a nice swing to the gut, followed by an upwad stab to the chest, Xiang realized he was in a bad spot here. He had five minutes to prepare for his match, and very little scouting of his opponent to use to his advantage.  
"I'm going to be forced to use my wakizashi here, to block his attacks, and then counter with martial arts..."  
Taking a deep breath, Xiang felt a sense of relief, and almost a hint of confidence take over. He felt as if he could win this.  
Getting in to a battle stance, Xiang stared down his opponent. A teenage boy, short brown hair and brown eyes stood across from him glaring at Xiang with the same look he was receiving. With a dong, Xiang paced the floor in a circular motion, opposite of his opponent. He was the first to swing. Xiang immediately blocked the shot with his sword, and countered with a blow to the gut. The boy stumbled, and Xiang took advantage, swinging his wooden blade towards the chest, but was easily overturned by a quick kidou blast to the abdomen. Now Xiang was on the defensive. Blocking every sword strike as quickly as possible, unable to recouperate fast enough to get a dash in, Xiang felt a little overwhelmed, until.  
"An opening!" Xiang thought to himself.  
His opponent had left his midsection completely open. Xiang instantly took advantage and struck the chest. He had won! He was going to the semifinals! He never realized he had this kind've ability in him. He was far from the top, though. He had to get past his current opponent in order to make it to the finals and be guaranteed a spot in the top two.  
After the other quarterfinals were decided, everyone was given a 15 minute recess to rest, and get some nourishment. Xiang took this chance to go outside and relax. Munching down on a sandwich and drinking a bottle of water, Xiang debated strategy on his next match.  
"I could use the same method as last time, but I doubt I'm going to get lucky like I did in the quarterfinal match. I'll just have to trust my abilities, and hope all goes well."  
DONG! The fighting bell rang, and all the remaining trainees entered the building. By this time, Xiang was extremely nervous, and worrying for the worst. After watching the first fight go by quicker than he could ever anticipate, it was time to finally meet his opponent one-on-one.  
Standing opposite of Xiang was a young man, standing about 6'2" with long dark hair. Obviously appearing very experienced and intimidating, Xiang felt very strong butterflies in his stomache.  
"This guy's going to be tough" he thought to himself. "He has to have a weakness, though. I'll hold him off and just try to wear him down. That's my best shot."  
With a large dong, the match had began. It instantly started out with Xiang dodging a fairly decent-sized, yet uncontrolled kidou blast. Before he could regain his stature, Xiang was knocked to his side with a knee to the chest.  
"Shit. This guy IS good." he said under his breath.  
With a large grin, the man allowed Xiang back to his feet, but didn't allow any recovery time, for he instantly started hammering Xiang with strike after strike. Not seeing a single opening, Xiang was growing wary, and almost worried that this match would soon be over. There was not a single opening to get a good strike, or even a blow in.  
"I'm screwed," Xiang feared. "There's not a single opening. I'm going to be forced to hold him in a block, and try to get a good blow in to knock him off balance."  
And that's just what he did. Seeing a chance to hold a slash in place by pushing against his opponent's sword, Xiang gave a nice blow to the man's face, breaking his nose. Screaming in anger, the man scolded Xiang angrily.  
"You bwoke mah nose! My pwecious nose!"  
"His face is the key!" Xiang proclaimed. "I'm going to use that to my advantage. His chest is completely unguarded."  
With that, Xiang struck his sword right in to the man's sternum. By pure luck, he had won his semifinal match, and was off to the finals! Never in his dreams did he ever imagine he would be in the final match of the Shin?reijutsuin qualification tournament. On top of that, he'd be going to school at the Shin?reijutsuin!  
Due to the strenuous battle both the patrons in the final match were given the evening to rest, and would report back to the academy first thing in the morning. Xiang was definitely exhausted, and glad he would be given the night to rest. He went straight back to his bunk, reminisced on the day and then went right to bed. He had a big match ahead of him tomorrow morning. 


	4. Chapter 4 Final Bout

Chapter 4 - Finals

"CERO!"  
In a cold sweat, Xiang, startled, jumped out've bed scared by his own dream.  
"Why am I having these dreams? And who are these people I'm seeing? It's all so confusing I just don't know what to think of it all."  
Looking at the time, Xiang realized it was time for him to get up and prepare for his match. He only had a few hours before the match would begin. Xiang hurredly put on his clothes, grabbed his wakizashi, and ran out the door.  
Unfortunately, Xiang was never able to see who the winner was of the previous match, because about halfway through he was pulled to fill out some extra paperwork.  
"I'm going to be forced to fight "blind" today" he thought to himself.  
After entering the doors to the Academy, Xiang was immediately snagged up by the two instructors from yesterday, whom debriefed him on today's match.  
"Unlike yesterday's sparring competition, today will be split in to three sections to determine the overall champion. The first part will be all hand-to-hand combat."  
Xiang smirked. He knew that his opponent was probably great at fighting hand-to-hand, but Xiang had never lost a fight in his life throughout his entire existance in Rukongai.  
"The second part will be pure zanjutsu, or swordsmanship."  
Hearing the second part made Xiang cringe a little. He may be okay using a sword, but he was for sure his opponent would probably have a little more experience than he.  
"Now, we were going to make the third part pure kido, but since most trainees come in knowing slim to no kido-based attacks, we changed it to a mixture of the two first battles put together. You will have an hour to warm up before your match begins. Good luck, Xiang-sama."  
Hearing this news gave Xiang a sense of excitable nervousness. He was excited for the match, but feared the worst. If he were to defeat his opponent for today, he'd be known as the strongest inductee for the year. If he lost, well... There wasn't much to lose, but he would have to live down this match for the rest of his life.  
"There's no way for me to use any sort of kido. I have no idea how to even use it. The first match I'm fairly confident in, and if I lose the second match, I'll have to find a way to avoid being hit by kido blasts IF my opponent knows how to use them."  
After debating on the match, Xiang practiced quite a bit using his wakizashi until he was called to the competition room for his final bout. Walking in, Xiang noticed that nothing looked the same as it did yesterday, excluding the same white, bare walls and the wooden floor under his feet. Surrounding the room were tons of other souls wearing the trainee kimonos, and a few wearing black kimonos, with white kimonos underneath. At the back of the room, there were 13 men, all in black kimonos, but all 13 wore white coats over top. In the center of them was an old man with a long white beard, and a walking stick placed underneath his hands, directly in front of his body.  
Now focusing to the middle of the room, Xiang got his first glance at his opponent for the day. It was Konatsu, the hyperactive boy from earlier! He was his opponent in the final match! He had way more experience than Xiang could ever imagine, for he previously stated this was his third time competing. Xiang felt a bit of unsuredness overcome him, followed by a large lump in the back of his throat.  
"May we please have today's two competitors make their way to the center?"  
It was time. Xiang approached the middle of the room, and greeted Konatsu.  
"Congrats, Xiang. You made it all the way to the finals!"  
"Thanks, 'Nats. Congratulations yourself."  
"Hey. Let the best man win, yes?"  
With that, they bowed to eachother, never leaving eachother's gaze. Both boys then stepped back, and handed their wakizashi to the instructors, and got in to battle stances, and in what seemed like a split-second, the fighting bell made a loud "DONG!"  
Knowing he'd have to make a quick offensive, Xiang immediately charged at 'Nats, followed by an immediate dodge to the left, getting behind him. 'Nats read Xiang's movement like a book, and quickly retaliated by swinging a quick spinning kick at Xiang.  
Throwing his arms up, Xiang blocked the kick, and thrust his balancing foot at Konatsu's non kicking leg, throwing him off balance and toppling him to the floor. 'Nats rolled back out of the fall, like a cat falling out of a tree, and got back in to fighting stance, followed by a quick charge at Xiang.  
Xiang immediately ducked down, and swung a very well placed uppercut, landing right under, Konatsu's chin, sending him flying in the air.  
"Here's my chance!"  
Xiang immediately charged at 'Nats, still in the air, jumped, and gave him a quick, swift kick in to the wooden floor below.  
In apparent pain, 'Nats rolled back, and leaned on to one knee, glaring at Xiang; waiting for his next move. Xiang knew exactly what to do here. He had his opponent injured, and on the defensive.  
Allowing Konatsu to return to his feet, Xiang immediately began pummeling 'Nats with a series of punches and kicks, followed by a strong, swift kick to the chest, sending 'Nats in to the wall behind him. Xiang followed this up, then charged at Konatsu, looking to end the round with a finishing blow to the chest. Unfortunately, his plan was interrupted by the fighting bell.  
"This match is over. Xiang wins via knock-out!"  
Xiang then actually looked at 'Nats, now on the ground in front of the wall. He was out cold. Quickly sidestepping his sorrow for the unconcious Konatsu, Xiang realized he had easily won the first round!  
"Don't get too excited, or over-confident yet, Xiang muttered to himself. "There's still two more rounds to go."  
After a few moments, one of the weird people in white coats walked over to 'Nats. She was a tall woman with long, black hair braided in front of her chin. She used some weird light technique to heal 'Nats, and he was ready for round two.  
With just a few moments to allow both patrons to rest, Xiang and Konatsu returned to the middle of the room. Receiving his wakizashi from the trainer, Xiang noticed that it looked a little longer than usual, and the hilt seemed to be different. It also had a weird metal crossguard.  
"Meh, must just be a different sword. More of a katana than a wakizashi," he thought to himself.  
With another loud "DONG!" round two began. Barely able to make an adjustment, Xiang was almost instantly thrown off balance by a quick slash to his left arm, but before Konatsu could deliver a finishing shot to his chest, Xiang was able to parry the stab, and regain balance.  
"Wow. He's good." Xiang thought to himself. "It's going to take a lot to --"  
Before he could finish the though, 'Nats went back on the offensive with strike after strike. Unable to parry any of the blows, Xiang was fairly well in a tight spot. 'Nats finally finished the series with a slash to the head, but Xiang was able to duck out of the way. Xiang followed this up by trying to make an upward slice at Konatsu's chest, but failed for 'Nats made a few acrobatic-like backflips away from Xiang, followed by another charge.  
Figuring this would be another shot to try and throw him off-balance, Xiang put all of his focus on his sides, not noticing the wooden sword heading straight for his chest, until it was too late.  
"And the winner for round two is... Konatsu!"  
Quickly hiding the look of disbelief on his face, Xiang immediately began thinking about round 3.  
"He's got great sword ability, but horrible hand-to- hand combat. I'm going to need to find a way to block his attacks, and come up with a good shot with my body; not my sword..."  
Walking back to his starting position, Xiang stared at Konatsu, never leaving his gaze.  
"Ladies and gentlemen. It is down to the wire. This final match will determine which patron will be deemed the top inductee of the year. Either way these two will both be placed in to our advanced classes, but only one will walk out of here the winner."  
That being said, the announcer rang the fighting bell, and the final round began. Xiang immediately went on the offensive, trying to throw Konatsu off balance with a series of hand-to-hand blows and strikes, all at once. Seeing the first open opportunity, Konatsu counter-attacked with a kick, throwing Xiang back a bit, and forcing him to regain his stature.  
They both then charged at eachother, exchanging sword and hand-to-hand blows, only stopping when one would retreat for a moment to regain stamina.  
"I need a new strategy, I'm getting nowhere. I need to think of something... I know! I'l surprise him with a surprise attack. I'l pretend to be coming with a kick, and then..."  
Xiang immediately charged at Konatsu, and jumped in the air, looking as if he was going to give Konatsu a swift kick. Konatsu, prepared himself, but was immediately surprised, as Xiang quickly switched to swing his blade. In just enough time, 'Nats pulled up his sword, and attempted to block the blow, but his wakizashi for some reason got sliced through by Xiang's attack, and half of his sword was on the ground!  
Immediately looking amazed, Xiang looked down at his sword, and noticed that the wooden blade that was there before, was now fully metal, with a golden square crossguard, and a white hilt, with black diamonds going down the middle of the blade.  
Seeing the metal sword, and noticing Xiang left himself completely defenseless, immediately lunged what was left of his wakizashi directly in to Xiang's chest.  
"And the winner, Konatsu!"  
Xiang had lost, all because he let his defenses down. But how did his sword go from wooden, to metal in the matter of an instant? It was like magic.  
"Good job there, Xiang-chan. I was a little worried there, until you let your defenses down. Looks like you now have your own zanpakuto. Congrats."  
Konatsu then walked away with a huge grin on his face, while Xiang still looked amazed at the sword in his hand.  
"A zanpakuto?" he thought to himself. "Isn't that a..."  
"Yes, Xiang. That is your zanpakuto, or soul cutter."  
Xiang looked up to see a taller man with shaggy blonde hair standing in front of him. He was wearing a white robe with a black kimono underneath. Clearly one of the men that were watching his bout from the back wall.  
"Take good care of that blade, Xiang. For it will be the only one you know, and for as weird as it seems... It's part of you." 


End file.
